New Zealand, which performs the legal depositary functions for the partnership, had received a formal accession request, according to the spokesperson.

The next steps of Ukraine's accession negotiations will be decided by all members of the bloc, who will meet in Auckland city of New Zealand on July 15-16.

On Friday, Japanese Economy Minister Shigeyuki Goto confirmed that Ukraine had applied to join the CPTPP. He said Japan, as a member of the CPTPP, will thoroughly evaluate whether Ukraine fully meets the high criteria of the agreement.

CPTPP was established in 2018 and now has 11 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

If admitting the UK as the 12th member, the bloc will become a market of more than 500 million people with a total GDP of more than 13.6 trillion USD. A new country that wants to join the trade pact needs to be agreed upon by all members.